Lilo Social

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the director of marketing at an eCommerce apparel company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tequila Sunrise?

We hired Tequila Sunrise to create email flows and campaigns on Klavyio.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

They were recommended.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

We did the package of about 6 flows and ~10 campaigns.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked mainly with the service agent who would relay designs and copy ideas. We worked with a strategist maybe 2~3 times over a year

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The flows they created simply didn't work. They created a Sunset flow that never triggered once. The welcome flow also had bad logic so tons of profiles never got out brand's messaging. After we first had them configure the flows there was never a review to see if they were working. We continue to find errors in their configuration now that we have moved on. But the opportunities and revenue lost over from their work is outstanding.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In our initial meetings we were told we'd be working with a North American rep. That did not happen. The rep we worked with was nice, but she was clearly overwhelmed with all the clients they must be trying to juggle.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Some of the designs of the campaigns were good. However, it looks like they improved their designs since we started working with them. They added very little brand customization.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I asked repeatedly for their overall strategy for our brand and was met with silence. Also asked for their copywriting guide to see why they often missed our brand's voice. Looking back on it I imagine they didn't have a process in place. At the very least, they should review the performance of flows based on the flow's triggers, not overall performance. They should also map out the customer journey and get on the same page. If your brand is trying to tell a story, this is not the agency you want.

UPDATED REVIEW

The vendor responded on November 2, 2022.

Hi Warren,

You began working with us April of 2021 and, after signing on for multiple projects.

Your Sunset flow was set live on January 25th, 2022. 
 There were miscommunications and scope-creep, including an admission that your team did not hold up their end of the bargain to allow us to do our work properly as agreed. 

From the client: “No worries. To be honest, my email probably came off more curt than it should have. It's on me and my side for not putting more into working with EA. We are interested in continuing, I just want to make sure that we don't have an empty campaign calendar, which has been consistent all summer and has surely cost us (tens of) thousands; the majority of the issue is that internally my team never had a full fleshed out strategy, but we are working on it.”

From our team: “I’ve confirmed that the first package (initial flow set up + campaigns) does not have monthly strategic ops, CRO testing, monthly maintenance, and monthly strategy calls to plan for the succeeding months yet as these are typically inclusions and/or additions to our retainer packages.”

We made the exceptions to waive many fees – 
 Management fees: $500 x 5 months = $2,500 + overtime.
 Edit Hours: 52 hours x 75 = $3,900
 Total waived: $6,400

We hopped on many calls to address your contradicting concerns. You would ask for something to be done, then say the opposite in the next sentence. You were incredibly rude to our team (this was noticed and aired by multiple members). 

We sent many progress reports with how well the emails were performing and received your buy-in and agreement. So we are baffled as to why you are leaving us this review as opposed to mentioning this earlier.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I started PEDAL industries a few years back. At the time, I did everything. Slowly I've replaced myself with everything but the Email component. I enjoy creating content, but my strategy and tactics have cost me a lot of customers and time and money. Rookie mistakes.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Tequila Sunrise, and what were your goals?

The challenges are many: rewrite all my flows, reformat the the flows, create new engaging segments, and most importantly reengage thousands of customers who have been suppressed.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We were referred by a trusted friend and mentor.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We initially reviewed our current strategy and then the team dove into the mechanics of what we were doing with email. We learned we were firehosing our customers and need to create segments based on engagement. We also needed to update our email templates. We also revisited all the flows and reformatted and set up new triggering events.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked directly with Karly, the founder.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Average engagement has gone from 20%, to 40%. Some campaigns have seen engagement over 60%. It is still too early to determine the effects on revenue, but we are hoping to double our sales via email and feel we are on the right track... from 20% of ecomm sales to 40%. That's a big goal, but we have a lot of areas we can improve.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

The style is hands on, with live zoom calls to go over the scope and required work to be performed on our end. All questions we handled patiently and answered thoroughly.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The knowledge and expertise was what you would expect from a leader in this industry, but what made it so impressive was that they had empathy for our situation and the ability to quickly bring us to a new level of performance.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Nope. Great people.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Humantra, an e-commerce business.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We needed help with paid social and performance marketing.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lilo Social manages all our paid social and performance marketing. We provided them with all of our brand guidelines and a creative brief at the outset. They’re our end-to-end provider, managing those extensions of our business; they create content for us, focusing on helping us grow our business. Although they do PPC, their core task is our paid social marketing. The team works with Facebook, Google, and TikTok, and they’re also in charge of our email marketing.

In terms of content creation, the team puts things together and gives us creative direction. They provide us with a brief of different types of content that we should produce for our social channels. From there, we create the rural footage and send it to them. Lilo Social compiles the footage into assets that we can use at the top of the funnel on paid media. 

What is the team composition?

We interact with four people from Lilo Social, though a much wider team works in the background across social, content, and emails.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

We found the founder through a recommendation. We had various calls with Lilo Social, and they were extremely convincing across multiple use cases. The team was very keen on working with us, which was evident in their work to make sure they got our account.

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $10,000 a month with them.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in April 2022, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Lilo Social is a great team, and we love working with them. Our business grew by 100% in the first month of our engagement. Ever since then, our performance has mirrored that trajectory. Overall, I’m extremely impressed with their work. They’ve added a whole new dimension of growth to our business, so much so that we’re looking to grow much quicker than we initially anticipated.

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re brilliant at project management. We meet every week via Slack to go through the business performance and requirements. We also have a weekly call through Google Meet. 

Their project management tools are all in-house and created by them. The Lilo Social team is always there to identify issues and quickly change course when needed. They’re always trying to find ways to optimize and perform better. The cadence at which we operate is very good; working with them has been a positive experience.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We appreciate that Lilo Social is an end-to-end provider. They not only care about their performance, but it’s very evident that they care about the brand. The team environment they create is fantastic — their people are great.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing they need to improve.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

The more you put into the relationship, the more you’ll get out of it. Invest your time in Lilo Social and bring them on board with your brand as much as possible. If you make them an extension of your team and work respectfully within your scope, you’ll see results.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CEO of a mobile app company that monetizes through monthly and yearly subscriptions. Our product is essentially a search engine for medicine; it allows doctors to look up medical information fast. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We hired Lilo Social for their marketing services; we needed them to help us acquire more customers and scale up the business. 

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lilo Social helps us with social media marketing on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They also run Google Ad campaigns and will be expanding that once we launch on Android. The team creates the content for these marketing campaigns; they also write copy for the ads.

What is the team composition?

We regularly deal with two people from Lilo Social, namely Richelle (Project Manager) and Bobby (CEO). Apart from them, at least 3-4 people work on the account; their tasks include optimizing and implementing the ads as well as handling the creative assets and copywriting tasks.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

Lilo Social was referred to us through another agency.

How much have you invested with them?

We've invested over $50,000 so far. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in July 2021, and the engagement is ongoing. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve grown our monthly revenue by more than 10X in less than 6 months. ROAS has been consistently positive and getting better over time. CAC has been decreasing over time.

Anecdotally, the team has been truly responsive to our requests in terms of creatives, implementation, or reporting.

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

Lilo Social’s project management has been great. They’ve assigned a dedicated project manager to us, and she’s been very much on top of things. Our documents are in well-organized folders and spreadsheets on Google Drive. We have one main reporting document, so everything is in one place. Our team can be demanding, but the Lilo Social team has kept up the pace. 

There were one or two times where we had to follow up on minor deliverables, but not for anything major. Beyond that, our communication with Lilo Social has been truly smooth. In terms of tools, we share a Slack channel, they use special software for creative approvals, and everything else lives on the Google Suite.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lilo Social is friendly and responsive. Prior to hiring them, I’ve was worried that an external growth team wouldn’t be a fit for us culturally, or wouldn't understand the realities of our company. This hasn’t been the case for Lilo Social. They’re like an extension of our internal team instead of a cold third party — that’s what I like the most about them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not that I can think of for now.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Ask for references and talk to other people who’ve worked with Lilo Social. You can also ask them for samples of the things they’ve done for similar clients. These have been helpful for us.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of marketing for New York City Football Club, a major league soccer team.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We had to onboard them quickly because we parted ways with an agency and needed someone to fill in the gap. We engaged them to manage everything regarding emails for us.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lilo Social handles everything from email deployment and segmentation lists to reporting best practices and creative development. Initially, they did a trial term from September–December 2021, and then we decided to bring them on for the entirety of 2022.

As a sports team, we deploy more than 25–30 emails every month to various segments of our fan base — some are engaged, and some have lapsed away from our club. Nonetheless, we offer key information about the matches, how to tune in, what to expect when people get to the stadium, and information about their accounts and season tickets.

In that sense, Lilo Social helps us manage the channel from an email perspective. The scope isn’t just marketing; it flows across a couple of cross-functional internal departments.

What is the team composition?

We have 2– regular people, and we chat with Bobby (CEO) when we need to finalize contracts or any task that’s more administrative or higher-level.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

We did a bunch of research, looking on Google and asking friends in different industries. We had vendors who only worked with sports teams, but we wanted someone who didn’t work a ton in the industry. Instead, we wanted companies with significant experience in CRM and email marketing needs — that’s what drew us to Lilo Social. We looked at their client list and then chatted with Bobby and the team. It just felt like a great, easy fit.

How much have you invested with them?

By the end of 2022, we’ll have spent about $260,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in September 2021, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Lilo Social has been a great improvement for our organization. They’re a reliable, timely, and detail-oriented partner. We sent them multiple segments from our database variable data, which could get mixed up and deployed incorrectly.

However, we truly rely on them to be our voice to our fan base. They’ve become a fantastic extension of our internal team and a trusted partner in our daily work, which alleviates a lot of stress for our internal team. Also, it helps from a bandwidth perspective. We don’t feel the need to double-check their work, which is really helpful.

Moreover, the difference between Lilo Social and the previous agency is that we can expect the same high standard and excellent quality of work from anyone on the team. Whether they’re senior or junior, we can always rely on whoever’s working the account, and they execute to the highest standards.

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

They’re amazing; they never miss a deadline. We often send them briefs or corrections for campaigns, and sometimes it’s at night over the weekends because that’s the nature of our industry. Nonetheless, they’re always accessible and communicative. Lilo Social helps us troubleshoot and solve problems at the moment.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’ve been great partners. Being in marketing, we work with many agencies, and we appreciate Lilo Social because they have many capabilities but are still a small agency. We have genuine relationships with everybody on their end, and they're very invested in our business. We’re surely not the client that spends the most money, but we feel like we’re a priority. Therefore, we love the client focus and attention they give to everyone they work with.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, they’ve been an amazing partner. We’d probably bring them in to do more work if we had the budget.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Speaking with the team is helpful. They’re experts in the space, but they’re also keen to know their clients and make an impact. Make sure to take the time to have a conversation with the team — that’s what ultimately convinced us to move forward with them.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I'm the Co Founder of a beverage brand called NoonBrew. We launched earlier this year and have been scaling with the help of Lilo Social.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lilo Social, and what were your goals?

We worked with one of the founders of Lilo Social, Bobby, very closely over these past few months to make sure that we had the right messaging, content, and ads in place on Facebook & Google. Our goal was to improve the conversion costs that we were seeing pre-Lilo Social and also find a way to broaden the audiences we were targeting. Bobby helped us accomplish both and more.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Lilo Social based on the different companies they have worked with in the past. They have a strong portfolio of DTC brands that they've helped and found that their team was able to build out a custom plan that really helped us scale. It wasn't a one size fits all approach which I saw with a lot of the other agencies we reviewed. The ROI has been very good too.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

First, we went through a Facebook audit where Bobby and his team looked through all of the different campaigns we were running. After that, we implemented their suggestions such as getting better tracking with UTM parameters, setting up software like Lifetimely to better track our KPIs, and employing a better Facebook Campaign structure to manage all of the campaigns / ad sets we were testing.

Once that was done, they helped us with creating new campaigns and getting new creatives to test. We then had an open line of communication with their team to implement new tests periodically based on the results we were seeing.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We primarily worked with Bobby and his team of media buyers.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We were able to drastically reduce our customer acquisition cost while scaling heavily in terms of revenue.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had regular meetings and Bobby's team was always checking in to see how things were running without us even having to ask. As a founder of a company, that was invaluable since my time is so stretched thin.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They are able to help a startup like mine scale and are very responsive to all of our unique needs. We can not recommend them enough!

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

In terms of areas of improvement, I'd say it was a great engagement all in all.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Cheribundi is the leading natural performance brand specializing in the most antioxidant-rich tart cherry juices that improve athletic recovery, the secret to optimal performance. Scientifically proven to reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, improve sleep and relieve pain, there is no product in the world shown to help athletes recover better than tart cherry juice. With a multitude of performance benefits for lifestyles ranging from consistent exercisers to elite athletes, including more than 300 pro, college and Olympic teams, Cheribundi is fighting against synthetic science with a better, natural solution.

I am the Senior Marketing Manager overseeing digital and performance marketing and communications. Specializing in customer acquisition across owned, earned and paid media.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Lilo Social, and what were your goals?

Lilo Social works across our performance marketing and email marketing initiatives. Our goal is drive topline revenue through our DTC site via one time purchases and our subscription program. 

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We selected Lilo Social through a referral from our current CMO. He previously worked with this vendor on another consumer good startup in a similar vertical. 

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

Our initial scope of work included paid media and reporting and ad creative and copy. This continued to grow to include Instacart management and email marketing. We have a weekly call to discuss status updates and monthly calls to review larger brand initiatives.  

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We work directly on a weekly basis with 3 contacts at Lilo Social including their CEO, Chief Creative and a Project Manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Lilo has worked on our business for about a year, which has been a long road to success for us. Our product requires education for purchase with little to no awareness to benefits, selling at a higher price point. That being said, Lilo has stayed on task for the long haul, optimizing hundreds of pieces of creative with messaging to reach our consumer. This continued trial and effort has recently unlocked our best month of DTC sales yet. 

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We have a very effective workflow in place with our weekly status meetings, Slack channel communication, monthly all-agency calls and monthly reporting documents. Their team always keeps an open line of communication with ours and is very responsive whenever needed. 

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Lilo Social is particularly interested in our overarching brand success which is a standout quality in an agency partner. They act as extension of our internal team, always open to collaborating and sharing best practices across agencies.

They consistently go above and beyond scope. For example, capturing content themselves for paid social, designing pages, and sharing influencer best practices to drive revenue goals. They are also quick to provide a resource when we're having technical issues with an easy to follow document or quick phone call. 

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

As a team, it could benefit us to spend more time on quarterly planning calls to discuss upcoming social platform technical/reporting changes, emerging platforms or seasonal trends. This is quite difficult as these channels tend to be more reactive but a way to try and get ahead of the curve. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the co-founder of an e-commerce startup company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We needed help with ad creation and marketing. Our goal was to sell our product through Facebook, other paid social channels, and our website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

It’s been a full-funnel operation Lilo Social provides us with. They handle Facebook Ads, Google Ads, landing page creation, copywriting, design, landing page optimization, and email marketing.

What is the team composition?

We work closely with Lilo’s founders; they’ve been super involved. There’s also a creative strategist, a media buyer, a designer, and a growth lead.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

A friend of mine was a client of theirs and referred me to them. I spoke to 10–12 different marketing agencies and received quotes from six of them. In the end, I chose Lilo Social. 

How much have you invested with them?

I’ve spent around $150,000–$200,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We’ve been working together since July 2020. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

They’ve scaled us from $30,000 per month in Facebook Ads to about $100,000 per month. Our revenue has grown five times over since we started working with them. 

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

We have weekly meetings with the founders and the team that works on our account. They’ve integrated with our Slack channel and are super responsive, as well as well organized. 

The assigned project manager keeps everything on track and is good at communicating what they’re working on and testing. I really appreciate this. I worked with about four agencies before, and from a communication standpoint, Lilo Social is the most upfront and proactive team I’ve experienced.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Lilo Social communicates clearly and delivers results. Additionally, growth roadmaps and layouts are outlined clearly and priorities are set firmly. 

Lilo focuses only on the metrics that matter, whereas a lot of agencies focus on ROI or click-through rates. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I’m very happy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

To get the most out of the engagement, give them a bit of time to ramp up. This will allow them to test different creative, ads, and landing pages. Trust the process for at least 3–4 months.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of a subscription content platform for nonfiction written stories. We’re available in the App Store.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We’re trying to reach our audience through digital advertising.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lilo Social has done some research to discover the broad parameters of who our audience could be.

They’ve created creative ad campaigns and tested them in the marketplace to refine the analytical learning of our potential audience through Facebook and Instagram Ads. Then, they’ve continued to refine our targeted groups, as well as our creative process by its visuals and copy, in order to effectively drive a very low cost per install number for our digital product.

What is the team composition?

I’m working very closely with Zac (CEO) and Bobby (COO), the two founders.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

They came highly recommended by our app developer, who had an existing relationship with a number of clients who had used Lilo Social for their digital marketing. We were introduced by them.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent about  $20,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in March 2021, and the relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

They’ve been driving the cost per install down by approximately 50% every week.

In other aspects, I’m pretty accustomed to quality and professionalism, and Lilo Social has been consistently professional and quality-driven.

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

Our two parties have been communicating in weekly updates through video calls and emails.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They achieve what my business requires. They do exactly what they say they’re going to do without the need for us to follow up. They exceed our expectations and are very responsive.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I haven’t seen anything yet.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

As with any provider, be as open and transparent as possible so they can really understand your needs and the realities of where your business is at that moment. That way, they can drive you to where you need or desire to be.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a consumer goods company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Lilo Social?

We didn’t have the internal knowledge and bandwidth to start scaling on the digital side.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Lilo Social handled all our marketing for Google and Facebook campaigns. They created our flows and managed at least 2–3 campaigns per month. Their team also did all the creative work. We had input on the creatives and they created the assets. The creatives were designed for all the ads.

We discussed what audiences wanted to reach. We had a list of the ones we were going to track each month as well as minimum KPIs to see if the ad campaigns work or not. That’s how it went almost every month. Our team provided them with our brand guidelines in photoshoots, and we invited them to the photoshoots for them to create new assets. One thing we also had to do was approach influencers. They’d make reviews in exchange for our products.

What is the team composition?

Bobby (CEO) was pretty involved in our account.

How did you come to work with Lilo Social?

We met them through a friend. What stood out to me was Bobby’s knowledge. He was very willing to offer any knowledge he had.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested $80,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We worked together from July 2019–February 2020.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

We went from spending $8,000 on Facebook to $120,000 and from $2,000 to $50,000 on Google per month. We went from 120,000 visits per month to around 650,000. Bobby always made sure everything was fine on the site. I’ll always recommend Lilo Social. They’re one of the best agencies. They helped us scale a lot. Their team helped us go from $60,000 in income to almost $1 million a month. I have nothing but good words about their work.

How did Lilo Social perform from a project management standpoint?

We had weekly calls, and I had calls with Bobby every 2–3 days. I was very satisfied with how the relationship worked. We used Trello as our internal tool at the time. We communicated via email or calls.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re responsive and transparent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

They could improve their creatives.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Keep the communication going.